The Work Of A Mother
by Jazminas1999
Summary: Clarke- married, two kids, demanding job Finn- Clarke's husband, too immature, laid-back to be a father Bellamy- single father, cop, in love with Clarke
1. Routine

Clarke is a busy woman.

She wakes up at 7. Makes breakfast, lunches for the kids and her husband. Wakes everyone up at 8. Drives the kids to school. Goes to work. Picks the kids up from school. Makes dinner, washes up. Cleans the house. Helps the kids with homework. Gets everyone to bed by 10.

And it's the same the next day.

And the day after that.

She's been in this vicious cycle since she was 20, and gave birth to her first child, Jake. She loves her family, especially her kids, she'd do anything for them. But God, she is exhausted. She is just there, a constant presence in the world, but she isn't living.

"So, how was everybody's day?" Clarke asks while passing the salad bowl down to Charlotte. Finn sighs. She can physically feel that he is about to complain about his day.

"I had the worst day at work today. I had a meeting and for lunch you put ham into my sandwich! You know I hate ham."

"I'm sorry. I must have been thinking about something else…"

"Yeah, well don't do it again." Clarke felt the anger building up, she wanted to explode, but she couldn't. Not in front of the kids.

They slept facing away from each other that night.

"Why are you still with that douche?" Octavia asked while watching hers and Clarke's kids run up to the school.

"The kids." Clarke answered without hesitation. She groaned. "The love is long gone. We were in love in college, got married as soon as I got pregnant. That's it. There's nothing more." The younger woman gazed sadly in the blonde's direction.

"Get a divorce. Find someone who loves you. Finn doesn't appreciate you, as he should." Octavia put a comforting hand on Clarke's shoulder. "Atleast consider it. Be selfish for a second. The kids will understand." Clarke opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by someone behind her.

"Good morning ladies." The intruder was Bellamy Blake- Octavia's older brother, widow, single father to Alex; a very energetic 5 year-old girl from Charlotte's class.

"Hey Bellamy, I'm sorry, but I've got to run. I'm already late for work." Clarke apologised while walking backwards to her SUV. "I'll see you two when school ends!" With that she hopped into the car and raced off to her demanding job.

"That woman doesn't take a break. I worry for her." Bellamy said watching the black vehicle disappear down the street.

"I wonder why you worry so much about her." His sister raised a teasing eyebrow and elbowed him in the ribs.

"Shut up. She has a husband." At that Octavia hummed her disapproval. Everyone knew Finn was too laid back, irresponsible and selfish for his age and as a father.

"I worry for her too."


	2. Bake for Charity

"What bake sale?" Clarke was confused. The constant buzzing in the back of her brain only made thinking harder. She squinted trying to concentrate on Octavia's voice on the other end of the line.

"Please tell me you didn't forget. The Bake Sale. At the school."

"Uh…"

"We discussed it and planned it at the last PB meeting." The PB is the Parent's Board at the school their kids go to. It was all starting to come back to Clarke in tiny fragments of memory. "If you weren't so tired and overworked, maybe you wouldn't have slept through most of the meeting."

"I wasn't asleep-"

"Clarke your eyes may have not been closed, but your brain was definitely snoozing. I spent 3 hours baking my ass off. Even Raven baked and is going to show up tomorrow. You know Raven doesn't like getting involved with stuff, but it's for a great charity! You have to come."

"What time is it on again?"

"Four." Clarke sighed.

"I can't."

"Why not? You finish work at 2:30. The kids are home by 3. You're free for the rest of the day!"

"I've no one to look after the kids."

"Babe, see this is why you have a husband. Whom you know is also an adult and shares responsibility and custody of your kids."

"Finn has golf practice on Wednesdays. He can't." Clarke sighed. She had to be there at the bake sale tomorrow, after all she was one of the Head's of the Parent Board. It wouldn't look great in front of the other parents. "Do you know anyone that look after them?"

Silence.

"Bellamy?" Octavia sounded unsure. The name sounded like a question rather than a suggestion.

"Your brother?"

"No, my mother's aunt's cousin's father. Yes, my brother! Why not? He's responsible and knows how to take care of kids. He has one. And looks after it alone, with no help- pretty much what you're doing right now." The younger Blake always showed a strong dislike towards Finn Collins. Now that Clarke thinks about it, so do her parents- hence, they convinced her to keep the Griffin surname.

"Yeah, ok. Maybe he's not such a bad idea."

"He's the best idea!"

"I'll call him."

"Again, thank you for doing this." Clarke breathed out, walking out of Bellamy's front door to her SUV.

"Clarke calm, it's no hassle. I like kids. I'm sure we'll be fine, won't we guys?"

"YES!" Shouted a chorus of voices from the living room.

"See? Nothing to worry about. Now go raise money with your bake sale!" He grinned at her, effectively calming Clarke's nerves, a little. She smiled back. Bellamy was always so kind and caring. He was such a great father. Unlike Fi-

Clarke shook her head. She would not allow her brain to finish that sentence. No.

"Okay. Thank you. I have to go. Bye!" She shouted running away.

"So Wonder Mom, what did you bake?" Raven asked leaning over the table looking at Clarke.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing. I bought it." Raven gaped, squinted her eyes and pointed a slender finger at the blonde.

"You sneaky, lying little-"

"There's kids here!" Clarke laughed out, amused by the engineer's anger.

"Do you know how long I spent baking last night? This is a BAKE sale. You bake stuff to sell. You don't BUY the food. You MAKE it."

"Oh shut up. We all know it was Wick who baked all that. There's no way in hell you went near the kitchen." Clarke smirked at Raven's sneer. The latter not having anything else to say.

"Yeah, the only thing Raven goes in the kitchen for is frozen pizza or the coffee maker." Octavia said waltzing in and depositing her baked goods on their shared table.

"Oh shut it."

The Bake Sale turned out surprisingly very well. It was nearing the end and Clarke was running out of doughnuts.

"Momma!" She looked up to see Jake and Charlotte cutting across the crowd towards her.

"Hey, what are you guys doing here?"

"Octavia texted saying you guys are finishing up, so I thought I might bring the kids to you. You know saving you from having to make another journey all the way to my house. You must be tired." Bellamy said, scratching the back of his head. He stood there in his uniform.

"That's very thoughtful of you. Thank you." She smiled at him. She was so grateful for what he did. Alex was eyeing the last doughnut on the table. Clarke handed it to her.

"Thank you!" She gave the woman a toothy grin. Bellamy put down a fiver on Clarke's table, then bent down to his daughter's level.

"Alex, daddy has to go to work. I'm gonna leave you with Aunty O, okay?" He stood back up. Saluted to Clarke and called his sister over.

Clarke watched his back retreat to the hall's exit.

On the drive home she was bombarded with stories of the games they played, ancient myths they heard and all the specific details of their time at Bellamy's.

Clarke had to give it to him- Bellamy Blake is an amazing father and a caring man.


End file.
